Barrel bomb attack kills 20 in Aleppo, Syria

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

ALEPPO, Syria - Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad allegedly used helicopters in the opposition-controlled Anadan region of Aleppo to drop six barrel bombs, a type of non-precise explosive device, killing 20 people and wounding 40 others on Wednesday.

Aleppo's media representative of the Local Coordination Committee (LCC) of Syria Ahmad Mohamad told AA that women and children are among those killed in the attack.

"The wounded who are mainly children have been taken into the field hospital. The regime forces have been shelling on the opposition-controlled areas with helicopters and fighter jets since morning," he said.

Mohamad also asserted that regime forces are not targeting the armed groups but civilians across the country.

More than 100,000 people have been killed during the three-year conflict, which has also internally displaced more than 6.5 million people, according to the UN. Over two million are now registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.